Rankings following the North West and the Under 25 Championships

Updated rankings reflecting results from the North West Championships held in January and the Under 25 event held earlier this month have now been posted.

There are no changes in the order of the top 10 singles players, with Dan Tristao and Will Ellison still very closely matched at the top. NW finalist and U25 winner Ed Kay consolidates his position at number 3. Ollie Arnold (11), Theo Parker (13) and Sam Russell (19) all make progress in the top 20, while Ben Chua rises to 50 and Oliver Quarry returns to the list at 54 after good wins the U25s.

Although Will Ellison retains his commanding lead at the top, the doubles showing some more interesting changes. Matt Shaw, who with Ed Kay won in both the NW and U25s, moves up to number 6. Losing finalist in the NW Gareth Price moves up to 12, while semi-finalist Peter Hanton moves up to 15. Henry Jefferies, Francis Thomas, and Anthony Goodwin all make good progress, while NW Plate winners Craig Baxter and Aaron Wheatley are also high risers. Oliver Quarry, Dan Hutt, Jeremy Manger and James Smith benefit from good results in the U25s.

From time to time, when things are quiet, I shall attempt to reveal a little of the mysteries of the rankings system. In this report I will address the question “why have I gone up (just a little) in the singles rankings even though I didn’t play in the last events?”. The singles ranking process includes an adjustment based on a player’s wins against higher ranked players and defeats against lower ranked players. Results over the previous 2 seasons are included but the effect of these adjustments gradually diminishes over time. Eventually the results from season minus 2 have zero impact. So if you have had bad defeats which are dragging you back, then this impact reduces as time goes by, which might result in a small improvement in your ranking points. All clear?

The annual trip north of the border will include matches at Fettes, Edinburgh Academy, Merchiston Castle and Loretto – as well as plenty of socialising!

RFA Archive

The RFA has an extensive archive of materials, currently in the care of our Archivist, David Barnes. The Archive consists of a large collection of documents, photographs and memorabilia relating to the history of Rugby Fives. It is our intention to place a great deal of this archive online in due course. Click here